MARIETTA (Thursday, August 8, 2013) - Although winter is one of the busiest times for ODOT highway maintenance crews as they work around the clock plowing snow, the summer months are no different, as crews perform other highly-critical maintenance activities, including paving.

“We pride ourselves on being the best at performing snow and ice operations,” explained ODOT District 10 Highway Administrator Jamie Hendershot. “But this time of year we focus on repairing pavement, enhancing drainage and performing other safety operations. Work we do now has a direct impact on how well our roads perform during the winter.”

In an effort to enhance safety and improve pavement life, ODOT routinely paves failing pavement during the summer months.

Washington County crews have been repairing pavement on five routes this year, including State Route 26. They will use 1,200 tons of asphalt spread along more than 170 lane miles.

“Given the state of transportation funding, a high performing maintenance department is essential to maximizing the return of every dollar we spend,” said ODOT District 10 Deputy Director Steve Williams. “Not only is our paving operation cost effective, but it allows us to get several more years of use from our pavement before we completely resurface the roadway.”

The paving process requires a crew of approximately nine highway technicians to perform the operation. One is needed to operate an asphalt grinder, one to drive the distributor, three to run the asphalt paver and four to drive the four dump trucks – two trucks transport fresh asphalt, one truck cleans the roadway with a circular brush and one catches the old asphalt grindings.

To date, ODOT District 10 has:

• removed 3,764 cubic yards of bad pavement,

• placed 6,608 tons of hot mix asphalt, and

• worked 11,715 hours to perform its paving operation.

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For more information contact:

David Rose, Public Information Officer, at (614) 623-4814 or email david.rose@dot.state.oh.us